Reboot: A Ben 10 Alien Force FanFiction (7)
by ShockScythe
Summary: The Omnitrix broke a few times before, but it's never been this bad. A study session leads to a trip to Galvin Prime, where Azmuth sends both Ben and Zeke into the system to eliminate the forced threat. Ben is the only reason the system won't eliminate them, but the virus has no problem doing it itself. The two have to gear up and save the Omnitrix from the inside - and its user!
1. Chapter 1

**Yup. Finals.**

**I much rather be spending my time with this.**

**I only own my character and the plot of this fanfiction. Everything else belongs to their original owners.**

**-****_ShockScythe_**

* * *

><p>"What the heck did you do?" Zeke asked me as we sat on the couch. I threw my hands up, "I don't even know!" She laughed, taking her notebook and tapping me on the head with it, "Calm down, you just used the wrong formula."<p>

"If you knew, why did you ask?"

"To see if you did."

I sighed, putting my hands behind my head, "This isn't making sense..." Zeke looked through the list of concepts I had a hard time with in Physics, then at our material, "Sorry, I'm just not the best teacher."

"Nah, you're fine," I told her, "It's just this stinking subject."

"Didn't Julie help you last time? You did well on the test then."

"Julie has her own things to do. Besides, I can't keep asking her for help."

She rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she looked at me, a slight smirk on her face, "Uh huh." I frowned lightly, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason," Zeke said, looking at the problems I had written down, "While I correct this, can you tell me about your aliens?"

"Which ones..?"

"The ones from when you originally got the Omnitrix."

I grinned before leaning forward, playing with my pencil, "Wow. I had 10 at first; HeatBlast, Cannonbolt, Grey Matter, StinkFly, Diamondhead, Wild Mutt, Ripjaws, XLR8, Four Arms, and Upgrade. Ghost Freak was one of them, but that was a nightmare." Then I went on this whole ramble. I could've talked for hours, had Zeke not shoved my paper in my face. Rolling my eyes, I looked at all of the red-pen marks she had made. "Am I that bad at this..?"

"'Fraid so," she said, rubbing at her face. I frowned a bit, tapping her shoulder so that she'd look at me. "Are you alright..? You've got bags under your eyes again."

"I just haven't been sleeping well, that's all."

"If you say so."

I looked over my mistakes a few times, almost 100% confirming my high-level suckage. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Zeke stood up and went to answer it. "Julie..?"

"Zeke? Why are you here?"

I sprung to my feet, hurrying to stand by Zeke, "Julie! I thought you had things to do!" She looked at me, a small frown on her face, "I did, but I finished it early so I could help you."

"Thanks, Julie," Zeke said before I could respond, crossing her arms, "but I've got this covered."

Julie's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure..? I thought you were bad at Physics." Zeke's eyes widened and I had a bad feeling in my stomach. "Bad at Physics..? Granted, I'm not the absolute best like you, but I'm definitely not the worst."

I put my hands up, "Ladies, ladies, I'm feeling a bit of hostility here. Did something happen?"

"Not a thing," they said in unison. Well, that was unsettling. I put a hand on my forehead, taking a deep breath when the Omnitrix suddenly beeped. That wasn't normal. I lowered my hand to look at it. The green hourglass became red, "Virus detected. Firewall breached." Then came the sparks. Zeke stared at the watch then looked at me with wide eyes, "It does that whenever Addex is involved..." she said. She was right. The Omnitrix glowed bright red and I knew something big was coming. There was a flash and Julie let out a scream. My eyes widened in horror as a black goo covered Humungousaur stood in the door way, with glowing red eyes. "Um, Ben!?" Zeke demanded, backing up slowly as she tried to move Julie away. "It's not me!" I shouted, "Something's wrong!"

"No kidding!" she shouted back as Humungousar raised his fist with a roar.

Julie let out a cry as she fell over, covering her head with her arms as Zeke went flying, landing on the farthest part of the lawn. "Ze!" I shouted before glaring down at the Omnitrix, "God dammit!" Humungousar roared again before standing in the lawn as he grew in size. I couldn't send him back, or even change in to an alien! Unless Zeke went Ninja, we were screwed. Still, Julie didn't know Zeke was the Ninja, but secret identities were totally not important right now. Humungousar raised his fists, about to slam them down on Julie, but when he struck the ground, he barely missed Zeke, who had pushed Julie out of the way. Incoming came a giant dinosaur-alien fist, which Zeke grabbed hold of for dear life. "B-Ben..!" she yelled, sending a fierce look towards me as I stood in the doorway, "Do something!" With Zeke still holding on, Humungousar swung his fist as he tried shaking her off. I slammed down on the dial, but it refused to budge. What more could I do? I tried twisting it. There was a sudden flash and Zeke screamed. A black Goop was wrapping itself around her, restricting her movement. "Don't do that..!" she gasped out as she struggled to keep the slime away from her face, "Anything else!" I rushed forward before reaching for and grabbing Goop's Gravity Projector, pressing the little button that immobilizes him. Goop fell into a puddle under Zeke, who landed in the muck. She looked up at me, "Thanks..."

"Let's just hope it can't change on its own," I said, extending a hand to her before pulling her to her feet. Then, I looked at a shaking Julie, who still couldn't believe her eyes. "Are you okay, Julie?" I asked, tilting my head slightly. She nodded a bit, "I-I'm fine..." Zeke frowned lightly before tugging my arm, "I have an idea."

"What is it?"

She tapped the button on the Projector before jumping away as Goop's goop suddenly swallowed me. I wanted to start yelling at her, when she told me what to do; "Punch it!" Nodding, I slammed down on the Omnitrix's dial. This time, it went down and, with a flash of violet, Dark Goop was gone. I glared at Zeke for a moment, "Tell me before you throw me to the hounds next time." She smirked, "Yeah, yeah, you got it." Julie stomped towards Zeke, jabbing her finger into the other's chest, "Ben could've gotten hurt!" This caused Zeke to frown heavily before swatting away Julie's hand, "In case you didn't notice, he's fine. And, if you were paying attention, you would've noticed that Goop hesitated once he had Ben."

Two girls arguing, both dangerous with their weapons of choice - Julie with her tennis racket and Zeke with her sword. This was terrifying. I mean, really, I could practically see the evil bolt of lightening that locked their gaze.

"Benjamin Tennyson!" barked a voice. I looked around for its owner before I finally looked at the technology on my wrist, and at the holographic projection standing on the dial, their hands behind their back. "Azmuth! I swear it's not my fault!" He lifted a hand to silence me, "I know, Ben."

"You do?"

"Yes, now listen to me; I need you to travel to Galvin Prime immediately - no questions asked."

I scratched my cheek, "Yeah, no. What's wrong with the Omnitrix? What kind of virus has been infecting it? Why can't it make my aliens come out?" I swear I saw his eye twitch in annoyance, like usual. "Just get here. Oh, and bring Zeke with you." Zeke stared as the holograph disappeared, "Me? What does he want with me?" I shrugged before looking at Julie with puppy-dog eyes, "Um, do you think we could borrow Ship for a while?" Her stare was like ice, and I had a feeling I'd have to bargain for it.


	2. Chapter 2

Ship broke free of Earth's gravity as we flew into the vast emptiness of space. It was cool, like always, but I had forgotten that Zeke had never been to outer space. She was leaning forward in her seat, grinning from ear to ear, "Wooah! This is great! Ben, we're in space!" I smiled as I watched her, babbling on in excitement. "It's 10,000 times cooler than in the documentaries!"

"You watch documentaries?"

"Nooooo?"

I laughed, "Really now?"

_Shiiiiip, _Ship said as the systems finished preparing to jump. Zeke looked at me for translation. "He's basically saying to buckle up."

"No seat belt light?"

"Welcome to Ship Airlines, want some stale peanuts?"

She snorted as she secured herself in. I did the same, then patted the seat, "Good to go."

_Shiiiip!_

Then, we were slingshotted away from Earth, and to the space of Galvin Prime; home planet of the Omnitrix's creator. Once we had exited our jump, Zeke unbuckled for the soul purpose of falling out of her chair without restriction. I laughed as I watched her lie on the floor, face down.

_Ship?_

"She's okay," I assured him, unbuckling as well. Zeke grumbled something like 'never again' before rising to her knees, rubbing her head, "I have a headache..." Smiling, I patted her back, "Yeah, it sucks the first time." Ship broke through the planet's atmosphere, flying towards the advanced city, heading straight towards the giant tower with the Omnitrix's symbol on the front. Zeke was standing again, looking around in awe, "This is a different planet..." I nodded, standing by her with my arms crossed, "Humans live on Earth, the Galvin live on Galvin Prime, and all of the other aliens we've met all have their own planet."

"Wow..."

Ship began to land and I tugged lightly on Zeke's arm, "The great creator requested our presence; we mustn't keep him waiting." She pointed at the infected piece of tech on my wrist, "Because something broke that." It was getting worse by the second; the green was corrupted and turned into oozy, black material, and the hourglass was a pulsing red instead of green. I started to walk out of Ship, "Because _your_ enemy broke it."

"It's not my fault! He claims to know me and I have no clue who he is!" she argued as she followed. I waved my hand, stopping once outside, "Yeah, well..." Azmuth glared up at me, his hands behind his back, "You're late."

"How can we be late?"

"Hurry up!" he ordered before heading towards the front doors of the tower at a quick pace. I looked at Zeke, who shrugged, before following. "Azmuth, what is going on with the Omnitrix?"

"Clearly, a virus."

"No duh, what caused it?"

"The Skeleton King's presence is pure corruption, so he single-handedly infected the Omnitrix. When you first encountered him, did the Omnitrix mention anything about a virus?"

I nodded, "Yeah. And every time we get close to something that has to do with that weirdo, it acts up."

"That's the virus," Azmuth confirmed. We loaded up in an elevator that took us up to one of the top floors. When the doors opened, I saw two tables in the middle of the room, hooked up to all of these machines. "What's all this?" I asked. The Galvin turned to look at me, "You have to manually destroy the virus."

"Meaning..?"

"You have to go into the Omnitrix," Zeke clarified. I stared at her, "In the Omnitrix?" She nodded before looking down at Azmuth, "Isn't that dangerous though? All viruses can develop some kind of immunity to whatever 'cure' is thrown at it, right?"

"While that may be true for illnesses, a virus like this is different. What's more, that's not the only problem."

Azumth gestured for us to follow as he approached the machines, "Annex's virus has control of the Omnitrix. If you, or even myself, were to go into the Omnitrix, it would 'delete' us." I stared at him in shock, "Then, it'll delete _me?!" _He shook his head, "No. You are, technically, one of the aliens in the system. It wouldn't dare delete a part of itself."

"Then, that's it, right? Get in, take out the virus, and, bam, I'm done."

He climbed up to one of the tables, "I wish it were that easy, Ben, but this virus will destroy you itself. Not only that, but every alien within the Omnitrix will have the same goal. There's only so much you can do." He then turned to look at Zeke, "Which is where you come in."

"Me..?"

"At the center of the Omnitrix, you both will have to take out the virus. Also, your power strongly effects whatever corruption Annex has influenced the DNA with. Not to mention that if Ben is critically wounded and dies, both of you will perish from the world."

"Hold on a second," I said, putting my hands on the table, "I thought you said the Omnitrix would delete her." Azmuth's eyebam arrows, "It would, if she wasn't with you. If you were to be separated, the Omnitrix would erase Zeke and the virus would go after you. Now lie down on the tables," he instructed. Zeke went over to the other table as I hesitantly sat on the edge of the one Azmuth stood upon, "What are you going to be doing during all of this?"

"Fixing the Omnitrix from the outside. And making sure nothing happens to you two."

I smirked, "Aw, you do care." He gave me a glare before hopping off of the table. Carefully, I lied down, casting a glance at Zeke. Her fingers were drumming on the table's cool surface with anxiety. I smiled slightly as Azmuth began hooking me up to different machines, "You okay?" I asked her. She nodded, "Yeah. Besides, you should be more worried about yourself." Azmuth put a ring on my left ring finger and the machine with a simple screen started beeping. Heart rate, I assumed. Then came this helmet kind of thing that had a piece of glass which covered my eyes. The tinkering in the distance told me Azmuth was doing the same for Zeke. "I'm not worried," I told her, closing my eyes, "You've protected me a billion times before, this is no different." Systems whirred in the helmet and I then felt someone's hand take my own. I took a breath, _She's shaking... _I noted before grabbing her hand, giving it a small squeeze, "See you soon."

"Yeah..."

"Infiltrating the systems," Azmuth announced as my mind became fogged, "Good luck."


	3. Chapter 3

When I opened my eyes again, I was floating aimlessly in a world of green and black. Looking around, I noticed that this 'world' was shaped like a cylinder, with rounded sides. There was a flash of red in front of me and Zeke was suddenly there, dressed in all black with her cloak blowing in the invisible wind. She looked at her hands for a second then up at me, "We're...in the watch?"

"Cool isn't it?" I asked her.

"If the situation was different, this would be the coolest thing ever."

I floated closer to her, "By the way, what's with the get up?" She tugged on her clothes, "Huh... I changed how I went Ninja, remember?"

"I still don't know how or why."

"Thing of it as a giant's scarf."

"But Ninja's wear whatever you did!"

"It was a hassle at times, but is this really the time to be discussing this?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Right, right." Looking around again, I said, "You know, nothing _seems_ wrong." Zeke raised an eyebrow, "Really? You don't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"Something's watching us..."

As if on cue, a green ray shot through the walls and struck both me and Zeke. However, it wasn't really an attack so much as it was a light that shined over us. She grabbed my arm, "It's the Omnitrix," she muttered, "It's seeing if we're something that needs to be destroyed."

"You'll be fine," I assured her, "Besides, your with the best, most lovable alien in here!" She made a face, "But, I don't see Cannonbolt..." The light vanished and I stared at Zeke, "Cannonbolt's your favorite?"

"You weren't talking about him?"

I let out a sigh, "_I _should totally be your favorite. I'm so adorable, and I can kick butt." Zeke's hold on my arm traveled to my hand, "Ben..." she said a bit quietly. Looking at her, I saw she was avoiding eye contact. "Y-yes..?" Crap, my heart was pounding so loudly. (Azmuth, if you say anything when we get back, I'm squashing you). She suddenly smirked, "What's with that look? Expecting something, are we?" My face heated up like a volcano, "N-no! Geez, what were you going to say!?"

"Adorable or not, Cannonbolt is still my favorite. You can have 3rd place," Zeke said before 'flying' to the right, pulling me along with her. I gasped, "What?!Who has 2nd?!"

"Diamondhead, who else?"

I pouted before actually putting forth a little bit of effort, flying beside her. Minutes, then hours, seemed to pass as we flew throughout the Omnitrix. Still, nothing changed - no change in environment, no feeling of corruption, no rogue aliens. "Are we going the right way?" I asked. Zeke shrugged, "No clue, but this way is best."

"How do you know?"

"Ninja's intuition?"

I sighed, rubbing at my eyes with my free hand, "I kinda wish something would happen..." The green of the Omnitrix suddenly became blood red, any and all sounds becoming shrieks of nightmarish creatures. Zeke glared at me, "Dammit Ben!"

"Me and my big mouth..." I grumbled, reaching for my left wrist. Except nothing was there. "Where's the Omnitrix?!"

"Hey, genius," she snapped, now wielding her great sword, "We're _in _it!"

"But I had it when I went in to save Ken!"

"Not important! Fly faster!"

We picked up the pace, flying at incredible speeds. Nothing seemed to change. Were we going around in circles? Zeke's hand disappeared from mine as she let out a cry, a black mass knocking her out of the 'air'. "Ze!" I called, watching her spin towards the bottom of the space. She quickly straightened before holding her sword at the ready, "Where'd it go?!" she demanded. I frowned, looking around frantically, "Where'd what go?!" Then I heard it; the heavy breathing. Cold air touched the back of my neck and I willed myself to drop just in time, barely avoiding the icy breath that passed overhead. "Big Chill!" I cried. Zeke whizzed past me, her sword now ablaze, "Good! One I have a chance against!"

"Since when did you have a chance?!" I demanded, "He can go intangible!"

To prove my point, her sword cut through the black and red, gooey alien. Rogue Big Chill snapped open his gigantic wings suddenly, knocking Zeke's sword out of her hands and down to me. I made a mad grab for it, the metal searing my hands once I had it. God, why did it feel so heavy?! By the time I looked up again, I had lost sight of Rogue-Chill and Zeke, both hidden by a thick cloud of steam. Intense heat versus bitter cold, which would win? And here I was, powerless in _my _weapon, powerless against _my _transformation. Great. Embers floated down to my level, going out before they reached the bottom. The cracking of ice caught my attention and I focused on the cloud, hoping to see something, or someone. The steam dissipated, leaving behind Rogue-Chill, who held onto the frozen Ninja. "No way..." I breathed, holding the sword limply. Rogue-Chill tilted its head, almost admiring its handiwork. Then, it threw her to the side, into the rounded wall of the Omnitrix. The ice shattered and Zeke hovered there for a second, eyes wide. From the bottom up, her body became nothing but green 1's and 0's before exploding into nothing. My Omnitrix was a cruel, cruel world of its own. "ZEKE!"

Rogue-Chill looked down at me with its red eyes. It stared, and stared. Why wasn't it attacking? My own eyes widened. Zeke had said that the Black Goop had hesitated once I was trapped inside it. Keeping the sword out of sight, I cautiously rose up to the alien, one hand out in front of me, "Hey..." I said slowly, "I'm not gonna hurt you... We're kind of the same person, aren't we?" Was I seriously trying to communicate with an infected chunk of alien DNA? Rogue-Chill hissed but didn't advance. It wasn't going to hurt me. Right away, at least. Once I was on the same level, I lowered my hand, "You understand right?" I asked, "The situation we're in?" The alien said nothing, didn't make a sound, before folding its wings in and around itself, creating the usual cloak. Harmless. However, I knew better than to trust its tricks. Unless this wasn't a trick. Crap, I was getting confused. If only I had access to the Omnitrix, if only Zeke was here.  
>Wait... Was she okay? When Rogue-Chill threw her into the Omnitrix, did it delete her? It had looked like she became nothing more than a bunch of code that was erased. The alien didn't finish her itself, but let the system do it? Was that what happened? What now!? Do I wait to be finished myself? Suddenly, Azmuth came to mind. He had said I was a part of the Omnitrix, that I was one of the DNA's within it.<br>I was my own alien.  
>My aliens all had the Omnitrix on their chest. There was a new, small weight on my shirt, against my chest. Grinning, I lifted my hand, and slammed down on the dial.<p>

"Brainstorm!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Why, that only took a little bit of brain power," I stated matter-o-factly, pinching my claws together. Rogue-Chill flew back a bit, as if it couldn't believe its eyes. "I say, it does feel good to be able to transform again." The alien snarled at me, unfurling his wings. My eyes narrowed, "Please refrain yourself from behaving so crudely while I whoop your behind." The shell over my large cranium opened up and I unleashed an electric hell upon Rogue-Chill. It tried going intangible but it was useless against my superior capabilities. The alien screeched before becoming nothing but a thin sheet of fried, black goop that sunk to the bottom of the space. Again, I snapped my claws, "This is why you must pick your battles better, pitiful infection, for you see, your corrupted version of _my _transformation is powerless against me and my intelligence."

"Stop rambling, brainiac."

I gasped before spinning around, staring at Zeke as she returned her sword to her cloak. "And don't drop my sword again, okay? I don't care if you've gone alien or not. I've only got the one." I came closer to her, the Omnitrix changing me back on its own, while I only continued to stare, like I couldn't believe my eyes. No longer an alien, it was clear what I was thinking through my facial expressions. Zeke raised an eyebrow, "You okay? You're kinda pale." First, I tugged on the edges of her cloak, then the edges of her hood, finally pulling gently on the ends of her hair. My mouth opened and closed dumbly but I couldn't form any words or sounds. She took my hands, watching me with concern, "Ben, are you okay? You're shaking..."

"I..."

Only able to formulate that one word, I hugged her tightly, "T-that was scary..." I choked out eventually, "Seeing... Seeing one of my closest friends..." Had it been Kevin or Gwen, I would've reacted in the same way. Zeke returned the embrace, looking up at me, "I'm okay," she assured me, "Nothing happened to me."

"You... It looked like you had been deleted..."

"I thought I had been, too," she admitted, "I was in a dark place for a while, surrounded by loose strands of numbers. Then, I saw Azmuth. I guess I was floating through the hole in the firewall before waking up again."

"And he sent you back here..?" I asked, looking down at her. Zeke drummed her fingers against my back, "Not exactly... He said I should recover from the shock of being forced through the firewall and back into the world, but I made him send me back."

"Why?"

"You should've seen it... The computer monitoring your brainwaves was going nuts."

"Because I changed into Brainstorm..."

"No, this was right when I was passing through the security."

We pulled apart a bit, but continued holding on. Once again, she took the lead, flying us in the supposed direction of the center. "What were you thinking so much about?" Zeke asked. I shook my head lightly, the panic and anxiety that had constricted my chest now fading with every breath, "Just about Rogue-Chill... He hesitated a lot when he should've been attacking. I tried communicating and he seemed to respond. I was deciding whether or not to trust him, how to fight him, and if you were okay." She patted my head, ruffling my brown hair a bit, "Well, Benny Boy, as you can see, I'm just fine." I nodded, separating further so that we had room to wander, still holding hands. "I'm just glad I figured out to use the Omnitrix in this situation," I told her. Zeke nodded, "Yeah. I was relieved to see a normal Brainstorm, and not some infected thing." My gaze traveled to the dial on my chest. "Though, I don't remember it being there earlier."

"Me neither. Strange, huh?"

The Omnitrix's walls were still black and red, and the shrieks continued to echo, but we weren't attacked again for a while. I looked at Zeke, "I have a question..."

"Ask away."

"Azmuth said you were _forced_ through the firewall?"

She looked over at me, "Yeah, why?"

"What forced you through? You couldn't have forced yourself because you didn't know what was happening."

She scratched her cheek, "Azmuth and I came up with something of a theory..." I raised an eyebrow, "You're collaborating with the greatest mind? What'd you come up with?"

"You're the default for the Omnitrix, right? And the Omnitrix won't hurt you because you and your DNA is a part of it. Plus, you're the bearer of the watch, so, maybe, because you didn't want me to get deleted, the Omnitrix forced me back."

We were both silent for a while. "At least, that's what we think," she concluded. I stared ahead for a bit, before responding, "If that's the case, then I'm glad. I was _really _scared after you left."

"Though it pisses me off."

I blinked before looking at her with a quizzical expression, "What does?"

"Fire got beaten by ice. That's a load of crap."

Laughing, I nodded, "It is. You'll just have to try again sometime."

"I hear a challenge."

"When we get out of here, we'll fight it out - Big Chill versus the Ninja."

We slowed down as, almost carefully, we floated into an open area, black goo floating around with us. "Let's try us versus Addex first," she muttered, her free hand reaching into her cloak. I nodded, putting my hand over the dial on my chest, "Agreed." The goo was alive, and the forms flying at us were excited. We had reached the center, and the virus was all around us.

**(Switched P.O.V.)**

Gwen was reading her book as she sat in the chair by Kevin's Camaro. Kevin, of course, was working on it. The two were silent in the garage, not saying a word. Gwen sighed and Kevin rolled out from underneath his car. They looked at each other for a moment. Kevin stood up, cleaning his hands off on a rag, "What's up?" he asked, knowing very well that there was something on her mind. She closed her book, "Where's Ben? Where's Ze?"

"Do I look like a doofus' keeper?"

"Kevin," she said sternly. He put his hands up in defense, "Hey, you asked." Gwen placed the book down on the foldable table, "I'm serious. We saw them earlier today, and they said they were going to study." Kevin snorted, "Right, 'study'."

"We both know that they actually study, and not do whatever is going through your head."

"Gwen, they're both grown up," he said sarcastically, "We've gotta let 'em go." She gave him a cold look, her arms crossed over her chest. Quick footsteps, growing louder with each step, alerted the two. They turned to look at the person stomping towards the garage. Gwen smiled, "Hi, Julie, what brings you here so late?" The girl put her hands on her hips, "Where's Ben?" she asked with a frown. Kevin looked at Gwen, who shrugged, "We don't know either. In fact, we were just talking about that." The glare on Julie's face suddenly vanished, "Wait... You don't know? Didn't he go home?"

"Go home?" Kevin asked with a raised eyebrow, "He is at home, studying with Zeke." Her eyes widened, "You guys don't know..?"

"Know what?" Gwen and Kevin asked in unison, taking a step closer. So Julie explained what had happened with the Omnitrix and Azmuth's request. "But, Ship came back an hour and a half ago all by himself," Julie continued, watching the their expressions closely, "He seemed a little uncomfortable about something, but I didn't think anything of it." She looked down at her hands positioned neatly in front of her, "I called Ben a few times a while ago, but he never answered." By the time she finished, Kevin had pulled out his Plumber's badge. Gwen looked at it, "Can it reach him from here?"

"Plumbers need a way to reach each other, even when they're on different planets, right? Of course it'll reach him."

Once he had a lock on Ben's Omnitrix, he tried calling. "Tennyson," he said, "Earth to Tennyson, do you copy?" No response. Kevin looked at Gwen who was staring intently at the badge. He tried again, "Ben, can you hear me?" This time around, a message popped up on the badge, over Ben's signal;

"Signal lost..?" Julie read. Gwen grabbed Kevin's arm, squeezing tightly, "Call Zeke!" she ordered, clearly worried about her cousin. Kevin located Zeke's badge, "Her's is right where Ben's was."

"Zeke is a Plumber..?" Julie asked, "But I thought she just helped you guys out sometimes." Gwen nodded, "She's helped us out a lot more than you'd think." Kevin cleared his throat, "Yo, Ze! What's happening?" Gwen shook her head, "So professional, Kevin..." He put a finger to his lips to quiet her before continuing, "Zeke, can you hear me? How's everything? Did something happen?" There was suddenly a burst of static and then a response. But not from Zeke. "Who is this?" questioned the familiar voice. Kevin looked at Gwen then Julie before back down at the badge again, "It's Kevin. Where's Zeke? And Tennyson?" In the background, high pitched beeping and alarms could be faintly heard. "They're both inside the Omnitrix, and I just lost all remaining connection with them." Julie gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Kevin scratched his head, "That doesn't sound good..." Gwen snatched the badge from him, "What do you mean you lost connections?!"

"They're both lost in the Omnitrix - I can't give them any more support from here."

"What does that even mean!?" she demanded, a sense of dread rooting itself in her chest. Azmuth sighed heavily, "I can't help them anymore. I can't view their vitals anymore and I can hardly keep the system firewall accessed for much longer. They're completely lost to the virus."


	5. Chapter 5

Kevin and Gwen hurriedly ran out of Ship and into the tower on Galvin Prime, taking the elevator up. When the doors opened, the room of red lights and blaring alarms greeted them. The great creator, Azmuth, was working with a machine that was attached to the Omnitrix. Gwen ran into the room, towards her cousin who lied on a metal table, hooked up to all sorts of machines that no longer did anything for him. There was technology around his neck, which was connected to the helmet. Seeing him like this scared her. He looked so fragile, so weak and helpless like a little child. The only thing that assured her he was still okay was the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. She looked at Kevin, who was by Zeke, a shocked look on his face. So they both couldn't believe the sight before them. Azmuth lifted his goggles, "Levin," he ordered, a strain in his voice, "try getting the machines to work again. Specifically the ones hooked up to their helmets and their ring fingers." Kevin looked at the machines he was referring to, "Brainwaves and heart, right?"

"The one for their heart also monitors the rest of their bodies, just not as full scaled as the individual ones, but that's what we need the most."

Kevin went to work, using the tools that Azmuth had scattered around in his own attempts to repair. Gwen looked at the Galvin, "Where are they in the Omnitrix to have caused this?"

"Most likely where the virus is located," he told her as he continued to work on the corrupted technology. He then went on to explain what the virus was and what had happened thus far. "Ze had to be super careful or else she'd be deleted and she _still _agreed to help?" Kevin asked as Ben's monitor, the one hooked up to his helmet, booted up, displaying the rise and fall of brainwaves and mental functions. Gwen watched Kevin work on Zeke's monitor for a moment, then watched Azmuth work on the Omnitrix. His efforts seemed futile for there was no change or improvement. Her gaze traveled to Zeke, whose breathing seemed to have quickened then to Ben, whose mouth was open slightly as he appeared to take in much calmer breathes. As if noticing her gaze, Kevin sighed as Zeke's monitor booted up, "Ben is more experienced than Ze, so he knows how to react and adjust."

Gwen giggled sadly, "You just complimented him..."

"What can I say, he's rubbed off on me."

Kevin started working on the machine hooked up to Zeke's ring finger, having a much harder time than he did with the others. Shaking her head lightly, she looked at the space between the hero and the Ninja, her eyes widening slightly, "Kevin... Look at this..." Kevin straightened to look at what Gwen was referring to. Upon seeing the two's joined hands, he laughed, "They're so childish!"

"I think it's cute," she argued, feeling a smile form on her face, "What do you think, Azmuth?"

"You humans are weird," he said simply as the dial popped up on the Omnitrix. The hourglass, once red, was now green. However, everything below that, was red. "But, I think that's what kept them going. I believe they make a decent team." Gwen's smile grew as she thought, _Azmuth has gotten softer..._ Azmuth stumbled back and away from his work as Ben's fist suddenly clenched, his body becoming as stiff as a board. His breaths became quicker and more forced. Kevin must've got Zeke's heart monitor working again, because it started beeping frantically, the screen glowing red. Azmuth looked between the two, "Great galaxies... Something's wrong..." Kevin hurried over to Ben's monitor, working quickly to get it functioning again. Gwen saw Ben's grip on Zeke's hand tighten immensely, which she returned. However, he was gasping for breath now, clearly having a hard time getting air into his lungs. Ben's monitor lit up and Azmuth compared his with Zeke's. "Her heart rate is higher than his, but that's because of the situation within the Omnitrix. His problem...is actually within his body."

Kevin slammed his hands down on one of the broken machines, "So what do we do, genius?!" Azmuth removed his goggles, moving them to rest around his neck, "If Ben's condition worsens, and effects him while he's still in the Omnitrix, he will be immobilized. However, that may just be what we need. If he stops moving all around, we can fix this problem. But..."

"But?!" Kevin pressed, leaning forward. Azmuth stared at him with narrowed eyes, "I don't think it'll be wise to make Zeke work any harder than she already is. Any more of this stress, and as you can see, if her heart rate increases any further..."

Gwen frantically shook her head, not wanting to hear any more. Azmuth looked at Kevin pointing at the machine he had his hands on, "Fix that immediately. That should be able to help Ben." Kevin blinked, as if surprised by how easy the solution seemed, before getting to work. Then Azmuth turned to Gwen, "Can you make a mental connection with Zeke?" She looked at the girl who laid on the table, tightly grasping her cousin's hand. "I... I can try," she said at last. Azmuth nodded, his hands behind his back, "Very good... We should at least get her consent before continuing."

"What does she have to do?"

"What else? While Ben is unable to move, he will be a prime target for the virus. Zeke will have to defend herself _and _Ben for a bit longer than necessary."

Gwen swallowed nervously before walking over to Zeke's right hand, taking it in her's. Zeke's fist was clenched tightly, but Gwen uncurled her fingers, getting a better hold. Then, she closed her eyes, blocking out all of the other sounds around her, and the panic in her chest.

**(Normal P.O.V.)**

With a flash of green, I was human again, bending over as I hovered helplessly in the air, grasping at my chest. A black shard whizzed straight at me but the swing of a flaming sword deflected it. Gasping, I feebly looked up at Zeke who hovered in front of me. She looked back at me, "Ben, what's wrong?!"

"I-I can't breathe..!" I gasped out. Her eyes widened, but before she could say anything, a red fireball hit her in the back, causing her to fall forward a bit. Quickly recovering, she moved like a bullet with an orange trail. She swung her sword through Rogue-Fire, kicking off of his torso and slamming, backfirst, into Rogue-Diamond, knocking him out of the air. Then, she was in front of me again, her sword held defensively. Why was this happening to me? It was hard to watch her fight all of my aliens-gone-bad at once. Gritting my teeth, I brought a hand onto the dial. With a flash, I became Spider Monkey. However, I couldn't risk wasting any breath by announcing my name. Shooting web from my tail, I stuck Rogue-Monkey and Rogue-Humungousar together before shooting forward, crashing into an unexpecting Rogue-Ray. But that was all I had left in me. I turned back to normal, sinking helplessly to the bottom of the goo covered space. The black goo rose up to catch me, and I was sure that would be it, but it shrunk away as a bright, orange light shined behind me. The goo screeched in agony. Even the aliens shrieked as tongues of fire lapped at them greedily. With black spots dancing in my blurring vision, I looked back and up at the fire trail that shot around like a pinball. Slowly, I sunk into the now warmed black goo, exhaustion threatening to overtake me. But then the bullet shot towards me from the left, scooping me up before I could sink any lower. It was hard to see through the darkness, but I could feel the arms holding me close to a warm body. The light died away and I blinked the darkness away, recovering something of a breath. Zeke was gasping for breath as she tightly held onto me. "What're... What're you doin'..?" I asked, my words slurring a bit. She only shook her head, slowly but surely getting her breath back. Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the haze and cries of infected aliens; "Ze!"

"Gwen?!" Zeke questioned, looking around frantically, "Is that you!?"

"Thank goodness!" Gwen cried, pure relief in her voice, "Listen, we need to get your okay!"

I shook my head lightly, trying to clear away the fog, holding onto Zeke weakly, "G-Gwen..."

"Ben! Are you okay?!" my cousin asked, her voice resonating throughout the space. I shook my head, "I-it hurts...to breathe... I c-can't..._even_...breathe..." Gwen's voice became laced with sympathy, "I know, Ben, I'm sorry... But we're working hard to fix that." Zeke's hold on me tightened lightly before she looked up, "What do you need my okay for?" she asked.

"Ben won't be able to move for a while, and Azmuth isn't a fan of endangering you any further, but... You're going to have to protect Ben for a while longer."

Before Zeke could respond, I dug my nails into her arms, "N-no..!" I exclaimed, instantly regretting it because it left me heavily winded. Gwen's voice became panicky, "Ben, there's no time! If you hold out any longer, you aren't going to make it!"

"I'll do it!" Zeke shouted, looking towards the advancing aliens, "I'll hold them off for as long as necessary!" No longer able to speak properly, or even form a coherent sentence in my jumbled mind, I shook my head against her chest. She patted my head, "It's okay," she told me, "I'll keep you safe, kick some butt, and locate the main source in this mess by the time you get back, okay?"

"You can fall asleep now, Ben," Gwen said gently. It was so tempting, but I didn't want to leave Zeke alone like this. There was nothing I could do like this, but still... Zeke's hold became gentle as embers floated around her, warming the air. She stroked my hair, "Take a nap, Ben," she said softly as my eyes drooped shut, "You'll be back before you know it."

The warmth was inviting... Still, as I drifted off, I heard the embers crackle and the _fwoosh _of the great sword igniting.  
>Soon, I fell asleep, my body becoming weightless.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

I could hear voices as I floated in the darkness. Other than that, I saw nothing, felt nothing. Where was I? Where were they? I could hear Gwen and Azmuth, even Kevin. There was a warm weight on my right hand that felt stiff. What was it? A strand of green numbers floated by me, followed by multiple others. It was familiar, but I didn't register why. The voices became clearer as the numbers dissolved.

Wait.

This was... This was what Zeke told me happened to her - When she was forced out of the system.

Air filled my now aching lungs and I couldn't help but gasp in relief once I had registered the pain that was there. More and more cool air filled my lungs and I exhaled, feeling strong again. Among the voices, I could hear frantic beeping, but nothing else. Gwen's voice became clear, "He's responding! Kevin, he's okay!"

"'Course he is," Kevin said in response, "He's an idiot who doesn't go down easily."

Frowning, I forced my eyes open, staring through the tinted glass shielding my eyes, squinting up at the ceiling. Blurred faces became clear and I saw Gwen had tears streaming from her eyes. Believe it or not, Kevin's eyes were glistening. They didn't seem to have noticed I was awake, so I did what anyone would do; I reached up with my left hand, pulling against the wires it was hooked up to, and brushed away my cousin's tears with my index finger. She gasped, "B-Ben!" Kevin put a hand on the top of the helmet, patting it, "Welcome back, Tennyson," he greeted, "You were missed."

"I-is it over..?" I croaked, hurting my throat with the words. I had spoken so much with Zeke, so why was it like I had stopped talking for weeks? There was the patting of little feet on my chest as Azmuth spoke, "For you it is."

"For me..?"

I went to remove the helmet when I pulled on the thing holding my right hand. Carefully, I turned my head to look at what it was. My eyes widened when I saw Zeke, still diving in the Omnitrix. The monitor beside her was what had been making the beeping. The screen was red and it displayed her heart rate: 210. It was high, as if it she had ran a mile in a short amount of time. "Ben..." Azmuth said slowly, but I didn't let him finish; "What is Ze doing..?" I asked, "Why is she still asleep? Why is she still _in there_?!"

"Ben, please," Azmuth said, now by my neck as he started to undo the piece of technology around it, "I wouldn't keep her there against her will. As we were getting you out of there, I had Gwen ask for me. Zeke was allowed to refuse, but she didn't." I grabbed the technology, stopping him from removing it, "Azmuth, the Omnitrix will delete her!"

"Have you even looked at the Omnitrix recently?"

Frowning, I lifted my left hand over me, staring at the green Omnitrix. "It's... It's fixed..?" Kevin poked it, "Looks like it, doesn't it?"

"For the most part," Azmuth informed me, "While we were recovering you from the system, it would appear something happened internally."

Gwen took my hand, messing with my fingers as if checking to see if each one was still in tact. "You okay..?" I asked her. She nodded, "I was just...really scared..."

"Why are you here? How'd you get here?"

"Julie came to us, wondering where you were. We reached Azmuth through Zeke's badge and he told us to come. Ship brought us here."

Azmuth cleared his throat, "Ben, regarding Zeke-"

"Right," I announced, taking my hand back from Gwen before laying it beside me, "Send me back."

"Are you crazy?!" Kevin demanded, "You were almost killed!"

I frowned, "And Zeke _will _be killed if I don't get back." Azmuth hopped up onto the glass of the helmet, "Benjamin Tennyson," he said sternly, "listen to me now. The reason the Omnitrix is as repaired as it is, is because _you _left. The Omnitrix, it would seem, needed its user to be present in order to clear the virus that had corrupted the outer parts of the system."

"What about the rest?"

"Zeke has incredible firepower when no one is looking."

Kevin smirked, crossing his arms, "She gave the majority of the virus a one-way ticket to a firey death." I looked at him, then Azmuth, before turning my head slightly to look at the sleeping Zeke, "Majority? What about the source?" Azmuth stroked his mustache-thing, "It would appear that's all that remains. Staying here, Ben, would allow you to keep Zeke from being deleted."

"Right... So, I'll just stay here..."

The frantic beeping of her monitor suddenly turned to a single, continuous sound. Azmuth's eyes widened as all heads turned to look at Zeke. Her chest had stopped moving and her grip on my hand almost slackened completely. "Zeke!" I cried, staring in horror at the straight line on the screen. Kevin was about to preform CPR, when the monitor started beeping again and her grip returned. That was horrifying.

I sure as hell wasn't about to let it happen again. "Azmuth, send me in."

"Ben, I can't-"

"If you don't, I've already figured out a way to go myself."

The silence was agonizing. If he didn't hurry- "Very well," Azmuth said at last, hopping off of the helmet, "Don't say I didn't try to stop you." The helmet whirred as systems started. Gwen and Kevin's faces loomed over me. "You're crazy..." Kevin said with a shake of his head. I smirked, "I gotta be." Gwen only shook her head in disbelief, "Isn't this going too far?"

"I'm bringing Zeke back, okay?"

"You better... And you better come back, too, Ben."

I nodded before closing my eyes, only to fall back into the darkness.

Back in the Omnitrix, I appeared where I had last been, looking at the fight before me. A trail of fire had zigzagged through the space, all surrounding a single, cloaked figure. The head of the trail shot towards the figure, only to be stopped by the simple raise of a hand. The fire dissipated, revealing a cloaked person limp against the figure's hand. It took a while for me to register who the limp person was, but it didn't matter; their body was engulfed in flames and they shot away from the original figure. Ripping off her cloak, Zeke glared heavily at the figure, her chest heaving with every breath. She held her sword tightly in her hand before rocketing forward again, swinging through empty space. A violet stream bounced around her at lightening speeds, almost faster than my eyes could follow. But there was no time to waste. I slammed down on the Omnitrix that rested on my wrist, like it always did, before shouting my name; "Cannonbolt!" Like a bullet - a very, _very _ heavy bullet - I zipped towards Zeke, unfolding only to fold around her again, moving away from the enemy's path. Once a decent distance down, by the bottom of the space, I unrolled, holding a very damaged Zeke out in front of me. She looked like she had punched a rhino in the face, then got ran over by said rhino. Shaking her head, most likely the invisible stars out of her vision, she stared at me, "Ben?! What are you doing back here?!" I frowned a bit, letting her go to float on her own, "Geez, no 'hello' or 'nice to see you'?"

"You shouldn't be back here!"

"Says the person whose heart stopped!"

The news must've come as a surprise, because her eyes widened, "Wait, what? It _stopped_?"

"What else would it do when you're fighting that _thing _on your own!?"

"That 'thing' is Addex."

I sighed, shaking my head lightly, "Oh dammit... I know this is his virus, and I know this is all his fault, but why is _he _personally here?" Zeke turned away from me, "Does it even matter? Let's kick his butt and get out of here."

"Agreed."

Then we split up, trying to strike Addex from different angles. Zeke was a streak of orange and I was a streak of yellow, colliding with the violet that was the Skeleton King. The way it was working, it was clear we would be here for a long time. Addex freed himself from his prison of attacks then aimed his hand at the orange streak. Acting fast, I collided with Zeke, knocking her out of the way while his attack bounced off of my protective shell. The impact, however, rattled my skull. Rolling away, I lined up beside Zeke, the two of us moving in a large oval around Addex, who had ceased his movement. My mind raced with plans and strategies. Unlike half of the villains I've faced, Addex required a plan to be defeated. "We can't keep doing this," Zeke commented. I raised an eyebrow, "Oh, and why not?" As if to answer my question, her fire trail became thinner, like mist, and she dropped a bit, only to rise to her original height. "I'm almost running on empty..." I heard the whistle of a sharp object slicing through the air before knocking Zeke down. We both dropped out of the attack's path. I unrolled then re-rolled around Zeke, acting as a protective cocoon. She struggled a bit before letting out a heavy sigh, "Thanks..." she mumbled, "You know, I rather be doing Physics than this right now."

"That makes two of us."

I shot straight up, like a rocket, before saying; "I have an idea. How hot can you get?"

"It's all a matter of opinion."

"Jokes aside, how hot can you get?"

She paused for a moment. "Pretty hot."

"Can you have your sword ready?"

"Why..?"

Instead of answering, I made a loop before doing a straight drop onto Addex's level. Then, I shot forward, rolling as fast as I could. He was ready for me, hovering in a defensive way that would block a large target such as myself. But, this time, I was like a Russian Nesting Doll. Snapping open, I launched Zeke forward. Her sword was held and positioned for a straight stab. The King wasn't ready for such a surprise, and had no time to defend against her. The blade of her sword pierced through his chest. Addex wasn't defeated just yet. He looked down at her, the red lights under his hood, shining as his eyes, seemed to burn intensely with anger and hatred. He raised a hand, about to bring it down onto Zeke, when I shouted, "NOW!" Like a supernova, Zeke burst into a ball of brilliant flames, engulfing Addex along with her. But, unlike the Ninja, he wasn't fireproof. Screeching in agony, Addex, as well as the virus, burned away, leaving nothing behind. The flames died down, leaving only Zeke, who returned her sword to her cloak. Then, she fell back a bit, dropping towards the bottom. I made a grab for her, turning human with a flash just as I grabbed her arm. Pulling her back onto my level, I smiled at her, "Good job, Ze."

"That...was exhausting..." she muttered, straightening as she shook her head, "But it's over now, right?"

I nodded, looking around as the open space was slowly reconstructed with new strands of code, "It's over." Zeke sagged in my hold a bit, "Thank god. I wanna go home." I laughed a bit, "Sounds good to me. Let's get you out of here."

"What about you?" she asked. I could only shrug, taking her other hand with my free hand, "I don't know how to get out on my own, so I'll have to rely on you and the others." Clearing my throat, I then announced; "Omnitrix, safely remove unnecessary DNA." The hourglass glowed green and the Omnitrix responded; "Extracting DNA, please standby." Though the Omnitrix's dial's glow died, the walls began to glow. We both held our breaths until we were certain it was extracting the right thing. Sure enough, starting at her feet, Zeke became coding. She frowned lightly, "I'll be quick, okay? I'll get you out of here right away." I tightened my hold on her hands lightly, "Okay, but take your time. Rushing around won't do you any good." From the waist down, she was coding. Soon, her feet dissolved away. "You know," she said randomly, "this was kind of fun."

"Was it?" I asked, chuckling lightly as her torso became code and her bottom half dissolved away, "Sorry our lives were in jeopardy the entire time." Zeke shook her head, a goofy grin on her face, "Nah, it was fine. All part of the adventure."

"See you later."

"Yeah, see ya."

Then she was gone, nothing but small fragments of code now. Sighing, I leaned back with my hands behind my head, floating aimlessly in the reconstruction site of the system. While I waited patiently for rescue, I was nothing but a strand of DNA in my Omnitrix.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a dark room, the tinted glass of the helmet only adding to the darkness. I heard no machines, no talking, no nothing. Shifting a bit, I lifted both of my arms, holding my hands out in front of me. There were no wires attached to my skin, nothing hooking me up to machines and computers. Lowering my arms, I messed with the technology around my neck, a bit surprised to see how easily it came off, as if it was already loosened. With almost nothing restricting my movement, I sat up, tugging lightly on the machine the helmet was hooked up to. With a tired sigh, I removed the helmet, placing it on the table beside me. Glancing at the glass, I saw that my brown hair was a disheveled mess. Stretching my arms, I looked around the dark and quiet lab. To my surprise, I saw Gwen using Kevin as a pillow as they sat against a nearby wall, napping quietly. I snorted a bit at the sight, then looked at the table to the right of mine. Zeke was sitting on the edge, her head limp and her mouth agape. Her eyes were closed as she slept and she had my jacket in her lap. Well, she looked okay, so there must not have been any problems when she was exiting the Omnitrix. I hopped off of my table, then gently took my jacket from her. While I was sliding my arms into the sleeves, she stirred, looking at me with a dull expression. She blinked the sleep from her eyes then stared at me with wide eyes. "Ben..!" I grinned, "Hi, how are ya?" She threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly, "Well it's about time!"

"Time for what..?" I heard Kevin ask tiredly as he stood up, helping Gwen to her feet. They were both unsteady on their tired feet, but made their way over to us. Gwen picked up her pace then tackled me with an embrace as soon as Zeke released me. Kevin patted my head with his large hands, yawning, "Welcome back, Tennyson." I smiled slightly at him, rubbing Gwen's back. They gave me a little bit of space. Zeke hopped off of her table, stretching before saying, "Okay, time to go."

"Where's Azmuth?" I asked. Kevin started towards the elevator with Gwen in tow, "Oh, he left as soon as he verified you weren't dead. Said something about needing to sleep for the next 3 Earth days." Zeke nudged me with her elbow, "It's been a few hours since you left the Omnitrix," she explained, "but you continued to sleep." I shrugged following after the others, "Well, I mean, it was exhausting, so I needed a nap."

"With great power, comes greater need for a nap," she said. I made a face before smirking in amusement, "You got that from a book, didn't you?"

"And so what if I did?"

"Nothing, nothing."

I looked down at her, "Hey, wait a second." Zeke stopped walking, raising an eyebrow as she looked at me, "What?"

"There's something on your hand."

She brought her hands up, looking at them, "I don't see anything."

"Huh, really? I thought I saw something," I said slyly before taking one of her hands. She blinked, then blinked again before staring at me, "Uh, what's up..?" Shrugging, I continued walking, pulling her along with me, "No clue, but I have to work hard to become your favorite alien." Kevin, with a smirk on his face, made a hurrying gesture as he and Gwen stood in the elevator, waiting for us. Zeke turned red as she hid her face inside her black scarf, mumbling something about Julie wanting to kill her before squeezing my hand a bit. Kevin rolled his eyes, "For the love of god, quit flirting and get in the elevator." Gwen nodded, her arms crossed over her chest, "Really... Ship has been waiting for a long time."

Then we were on our way home - all four of us.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't ship Ben and Julie, in case you haven't noticed. I prefer my own character and the main character MUCH more.<br>So sue me.**

**I liked this story a bit more than the others, I think. Plus, I think this one is better quality.  
><strong>**Yay adventure.**

**-_ShockScythe_**


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